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Overnight stay on way from San Sebastian to Barcelona

For a friend...Any suggestions for a charming town/village/city in which to stay for 1-2 nights' stopover when driving between San Sebastian and Barcelona. Trip is at end of April. Could ditch car and go with train if that is a better idea. Thanks!!

If your 'friend' whats somewhere to stay for a couple of nights along the way, there are a few good options. The first would be at the the Hotel El Privilegio de Tena in Tramascastills de Tena, in the Tena Valley ( http://elprivilegio.com), a beautiful stop. The second suggestion would be to head up through the Val d'Arn, spending a couple of nights in one of the Paradors, or at the Hotel Mauberme in Saladru (www.hotelmauberme.com), a perfect getaway on your way to Barcelona.

Thanks! These look lovely. Had thought of Paradors as well. This is for 3 adult women and their mother (50's and around 80?; should have given more info on query). Concern about going up into Pyrenees area in April...weather? Will there still be snow, ice, mud? They are not super active or hikers or skiers.

Any suggestions for a stop along a more "southerly" route...along road through Pamplona, Zaragosa or similar? Or is even somthing like Jaca more easiy accessible for an overnight stay?

For something completely different, and possibly quite interesting, they can take the N-240 out of Pamplona to the village of Boltaña (Huesca). The 5-star Hotel Barceló Monasterio de Boltaña, from the 17th century, would make for an excellent stop for the night (www.barcelo.com). A deluxe double room in late April starts as low as €95/night. The smaller Villa rooms (450 sf) begin at €63/night. Actually, they might want to spend 2 nights there and enjoy the area.

The drive is easy and the road is in excellent condition. There will be snow in the Aragon Pyrenees, and it will still be cool in April, but the skies should be blue. Boltaña is a little over three hours drive from San Sebastian-Donoatia, which will allow them time to stop in Sangüesa, visit the Castle of Javier (the birthplace of San Francisco Javier), and possibly stop by the Monastery of Leire (Gregorian chants) before moving on to Boltaña for the night.

I can highly recommend going through France. It's 4 hours from San Sebastian to Castelnaudary, home of cassoulet, and 3 hours from there to Barcelona, with chances to stop in nice towns for coffees and lunch, or the Dali museum if that would appeal to the group. If not, then there are also plenty of small French towns of all sorts on the French side, but when I took that route to travel between SS and Barcelona, I made my stopover in the Pyrenees, which wouldn't be possible in April.

If the friends would be tickled to go through the small towns and foothills of France, then it might be a good idea to try to attract the attention of some people who focus on France when they post here by reposting and tagging your thread for France as well as Spain.

Any route through any country can be boring if you don't get off the highway.

On the French side, as well as the Spanish side, there is plenty to enjoy in the near vicinity of the highway, and good secondary roads wherever you do go beyond the highway. Plus, some people just find it intrinsically interesting to dip into French culture as part of visiting that area, especially since the Catalan population and the Basque population are "cross border" and many feel their roots are stronger than a feeling of "nationalist" loyalty to governments in Paris or Madrid.

But that's why I suggested, if interested, reposting with a France tag as well as a Spain tag, to attract the attention of travelers familiar with the small towns and scenery available on the French side, and Francophiles who might put a penny on the scale in favor of France, just to balance things out.